“Africa is Behind Us,” Says Senegal’s Coach

Aliou Cisse, Senegal’s coach, says the continent is rallying behind his team this moment.

Senegal put up a spirited fight from start to finish swaggering over Poland in a relief for rest of Africa on the back of lacklustre displays by the continent’s other representatives.

Egypt teeters on the brink of exit having bitten the dust to hosts Russia 3-1 while Morocco got humbled by Iran with Tunisia and Nigeria also counting losses in their games.

And for this Cisse says the continent’s hopes are on his side.

“Senegal represents the entire African continent. The whole continent is behind us. I get calls from everywhere. People believe in us, it’s a pride to represent Africa. Winning the first match puts you in the right mood. The second game is important, the third too,” he said in the aftermath of the duel.

The 42-year-old, who captained the Senegalese side that reached the quarters of the 2002 World Cup, however hopes the other faltering Africa teams recover in their fixtures.

“I hope that Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria will recover.” he continued.

On the reason behind the Lions’ brave outing, he said: “Senegal won thanks to its discipline. We were compact and aggressive. We were very good in offensive and defensive transitions in the first-half. They had more possession but as soon as they made a mistake, they were beaten and kicked back. We knew it (Poland) was a very good team technically, we had to close them down not to let them gain confidence, that’s what we did.”

The Senegalese president Macky Sall is in Moscow to boost the players’ morale.